Creating Albums???

[jaylensmom]

How long does it take you to scrap specific events? Do you scrap them immediately? I was thinking I haven’t completed my son’s preschool album and he’ll be starting 2nd grade Monday (forget about kindergarten and 1st). Then there’s the December Daily album from 2009 that I can’t seem to complete (and the 2010 album that I won’t speak about). There’s the Disney cruise and Disneyland albums that I want to do. I’m thinking I’m going to have to stop scrapping other photos so I can at least complete a few of the albums. I actually got depressed because I realize I haven’t completed one album I started and a few of them I started a few years ago.

[Ginger_79]

Been there, felt that way. Then decided that the only way out is to stop beating myself up for it.

The only big album I have finished yet is my sister's wedding book. Which was purely photo based. My last years P365 pictures are scrapped to mid October (with quickpages...). So hey, good chances I get it done before 2011 is over. Yay, me!

I have however done mini-books before. Love them to pieces. Maybe do one of those, when you need a success in completing something? Also, don't make it too complicated. To scrap detailed, embellished pages for a complete album will take time for most people. If you feel like you desperately want to save the memories NOW, go for a simple design. Photo based and maybe with templates. I'm sure others can link you examples! And I believe I somewhere saw a link of Lynnettes P365 album, but cannot seem to find it now.

Most of all, this is a hobby. We all scrap for fun, don't we? So scrapping is where we are allowed to slack, choose purely what we wanna do right now and have no bad feelings.

[HeatherKS]

I'm attempting my first ever album right now of our Yellowstone vacation. I'm trying to make it as easy on myself as possible by using simple, photo-centric templates but it's still taking some time. I'm just plugging away at it though and I figure I'll eventually get it done - one page at a time.

[Jengerbread88]

It depends. I finished my pregnancy album already (and just had my son a month and a half ago)-- it's already been printed and arrived.

But other albums, like my trip to NYC a few years ago, still haven't been scrapped at all... :/

[MamaBee]

Oh... I've been there... and I'm there! I have a Dec 2009, three vacation albums, childhood photos, P365 for 2010... the list goes on! I have completed a few because I had a deadline... good printing deal that I couldn't pass up.

My advice is to do a page a day for that album along with your other scrapping...

[Aggie Aviso]

I have been building albums as of late. In fact, I finished around 4-5 last month . Doing themed albums for me means I go clean and simple, more photocentric. But I still have to do my kids' school albums and our Disney trip this year too!

[Jengerbread88]

I agree with what everyone else said. A lot of my albums are a lot simpler than my other pages. Any pages for a set themed album all use the same kit (or at least same of a couple of kits) and are usually using templates from Janet (I typically modify some of the pages in some way, though).

It's just a lot easier to get done if I can take a page here, a page there, and toss it all together quickly.

Right now, I'm in the process of the mini album from the Big Ideas Festival from Big Picture Classes, and I'm working on scrapping my son's first year... I'm a little behind on it, but he's not even two months old yet, so I'm not beating myself up over it.

[DawnMarch]

Honestly? If I really want to get it done, I don't do a scrap album at all. For something like a Disney vacation, as much fun as it would be to have all the embellishments and everything, I'd never finish it. Instead, for vacations I go to Shutterfly and make a photo album with journaling. Quick, easy, good enough.

[rach3975]

That's why I rarely do separate albums. I scrap slowly, maybe 12-15 pages a month. I'd have to stop scrapping everything else for a few months to get a decent sized vacation or school album finished--and for school I'd have to do it x3. My interest wanes long before that, LOL.

However, this year I got talked into making a class yearbook for DS's preschool class. I only had a week to pull together a 20-page album, so I used stacked pages and quickpages. I loved starting with the stacked pages--in an hour or so I could complete a page that fit the photos and journaling I wanted it to, but it looked much more finished than what I could have accomplished using a template in the same amount of time.

In general, it works better for me to do a few pages mixed into my regular annual albums. For vacations I aim for a maximum of 1 scrap page per day of vacation plus 1-2 pages of family photos from the vacation. Of course, I'm so behind on those that I'm finally considering a photo and journaling only Shutterfly album with the last 5 years of family vacations combined into 1 album. Then my regular scrap albums would only have the 1 or 2 most important pages for each vacation, which I've already done.

For school I probably do a first day page, a class and teacher photo page, 1-2 pages of random events (including an end of year photo) and friends, and a page with samples of work and art. Definitely not enough for an album most years. If I wanted a separate school album, I think I'd do 1 for all of elementary school with 4-5 pages a year.

[adrianka]

I think most of the time one can consider it a miracle that one manages to scrap something - what with the daily life obligations, problems to be solved, life to be lived... so albums are quite naturally a challenge.

I find that to finish a huge project one needs a lot of enthusiasm and FREE TIME. In the ideal case I would love to make an album RIGHT after something happened (vacation etc.), but I don't like deadlines and stress when it comes to hobbies, so the truth is that I haven't finished one of them (I'm close with one, but still not done, and I finished all my calendar projects, but still those are "only" 14 pages and usually take me 3 months to do)...

I noticed that as new things to scrap emerge, I tend to start too many things at once and not finishing that many.

I also find it's tiring to do a long project, and that I always need breaks and scrap random pages in order to remain sane and inspired, otherwise I fall into a "I have to do this" feeling.

Still, this is all about a creative outlet, so what's finished is finished, what isn't - who cares? The point is you scrapped something and had fun doing it.

And this comes from a former perfectionist (deep down the monster is still lurking, but I know better now and keep fighting it). I'm glad I got this far. Less OCD = more happiness. :-)

P.S. Just to amuse you - I went to Barcelona for a week and saw some work of Gaudí's - and believe me, not even Gaudí finished EVERYTHING he started, some projects had to be abandoned or changed. And he was a genius, while we are just hobby scrappers. So there.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by Ginger_79

Been there, felt that way. Then decided that the only way out is to stop beating myself up for it.

[...]

Most of all, this is a hobby. We all scrap for fun, don't we? So scrapping is where we are allowed to slack, choose purely what we wanna do right now and have no bad feelings.

This!

[ColleenSwerb]

I don't "do" guilt when it comes to my scrapping. It's my hobby and creative release, and I will get to the things I want to eventually.

Would it be nice to have our wedding or honeymoon scrapped in a big beautiful album sitting out in our living room? Sure. But I have a few pages from each, and for now that's good enough for me. I'm sort-of working on my pregnancy album, and I have ideas for how I want to do the baby album, but I'm very laid back with it. I will get done what I get done, and it will all be loved and appreciated.

[LeeAndra]

I'm one of the weirdos who doesn't have her albums match.

I tried to do that with my December Daily two years ago with one kit, one template pack, one alpha, etc. and set the whole thing up ahead of time. I STILL didn't finish it b/c I got wrapped up in making sure each page looked different from the next while still having the same general look and I just couldn't get past having two gold bg pages next to each other *gasp* or something else equally dumb when it came to the design.

I have done a vaca album from 4 or 5 years ago as well as an album from FOJ two years ago and just treated them like regular scrap pages. None match or even coordinate; the pages/pictures are just in chronological order of what happened during the vaca.

[Freckles]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

I'm one of the weirdos who doesn't have her albums match.

Here's another one of those.

The only album I have already finished (and printed) is my youngest First Year Album. I had learned from experience with my oldest that if I didn't do that right away, I'd forget the details about his milestones. But although most pages are spreads, they do not match. But that's ok with me, I'd hate to scrap 20+ pages all with the same kit(s)!

Other than that, I don't really do themed albums. I plan to have my other layouts printed and bound by year. I started scrapping in 2005 and still haven't finished one of the years ever since! But I have a plan now, and I'll be getting there!

[abm234]

This is why I just scrap in 12x12 pages, work on them in whatever order strikes me, and print them as I go. I just slip them into traditional albums in the correct order.